Horse-collar.



No. 856,649. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

J. F. MOTT.

HORSE COLLAR.

APPLICATION FILED 8L'PT.19,1906.

THE Iva/ems PETERS cm, WASHINGZON,'D. c7

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HORSE- Specification of Letters Patent.

COLLAR.

Patented June 11, 1907.

Application filed September 19, 1906. Serial No. 335,172.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. Mo'rr, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Cleveland, county of Ouyahoga, State of Ohio, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Horse-Collars, of which I herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand use the same.

The objects of the invention are to provide instrumentalities forstrengthening the lower end of a draft horse collar so as to prevent itfrom becoming broken on account of the constant opening and closing ofthe upper ends of the collar, for providing a permanent and rigid loopwhich will maintain its shape under all conditions of use and Wear, andwhich while forming a natural and suitable curve for the-lower end ofthe collar will place it out of contact with the horses neck and throatso that it will not interfere with the functions of breathing andswallowing.

A further object is to provide a supportover which the hame straps canbe buckled. and which by its projecting and downwardly turned forwardedge will prevent the strap from slipping off and will retain it inposition. whether the horse is going forward or backward.

A further object is to provide a laterally expansible reinforcing tubefor the lower curve of the rim of the collar, which can be filled withthe straw or other filling of the rim and hence provide a continuous rimwhich will not break when the collar is opened more or less toaccommodate it to the necks of horses of varying sizes.

A further object is to provide a metal tube which is longitudinallyseparable into two portions for expansibility when the straw filling isforced therein and to so arrange the division lines between the sectionsthat their edges will not cut or wear the leather covering over them.

A further object is so to of the sides of the tube as to provide for soattaching the collar body to the rim that the combined rim and body willpresent an inner edge having a general inclination such as to conform tothe inclination of the throat of the horse and hence have no tendency tochafe or compress it in any way.

To accomplish these objects, I provide a split tube curved to conform tothe above rearrange the shapes l cited requirements and the inventioncomi prises also the details arrangement and conformation of the variousparts, as hereinafter described, shown in the accompanying drawings, andspecifically pointed out in the claims.

1 In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of the collarshowing the rim which forms the foundation to which the cushioned bodyis attached, and showing the reinforcing tube in the lower end; Fig. 2is an enlarged transverse section thereof, on center line aa-of theloop, showing the projecting lower edge of the rim and the inner tube,and the inclination of the inner ed ge to which the body of the collaris attached, and the position of the dividing line between the portionsof the inner tube; Fig. 3 is a rear view of the curved reinforcing tube;Fig. 4 is a front view thereof; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of thetube.

In these views, 1 is the rim which is formed of shaped leather andfilled with tightly packed straw. The leather forming the rim is broadenough to extend also at 2 to inclose the body or larger cushion portion7, and the band or leather 3 is sewed over the loop portion. The loweredge of the loop is maintained in rigid-shape by means of a short innertube made in two longitudinal portions 4 and. 5 united in asubstantially vertical plane at 6. This tube is of flattened cylindricalform and the division line is shown cutting across the flattened sidesrather than at the sharper edges, which is important in preventing themfrom cutting through the leather covering which they would soon do whenthe leather was strained over'them, if the division line were carriedthrough at the edges. The body of the collar is attached at the elevatedinner edge of the tube at 8, and hence the lower j surface 9 of the tubeprojects downward and l forward and is thus adapted to receive the lbuckled strap 10 of the hames 11. The lower 1 surface is also rounded orraised at 12 at the inner end of the outer division so that the willbend over it and be prevented thereby from slipping off, when the horsepulls backward on the harness. In this manner a perfectly tightfastening for the harness is obtained which will not permit the strap toloosen or break away from the collar in whatever direction the horse maypull upon it. The oint of attachment for the body 1 of the co lar isalso raisedftbylithismeans, to

l strap IIO permit of the introduction tween it and the tube andadvisable however to raise the body higher than the rim at this point orto interfere in any way with action of the horses throat, hence thecollar is made to depend from the point of attachment and the inner edgeand upper surface of the tube rises from this point at 13, to form withthe body a general upward incline approximating that of the horses neck.This and a portion of the lower surface are formed on one inner divlslonof the tube, and the other division completes the lower forwardly anddownwardly inclined and rounded surface and presents a smoothly curvedfront at 14.

The separability of the parts is an important feature since the strawfilling is forced 111to the ends of the tube as tightly as possible, andwhile a slight movement of the side portions of the rim upon the tube isthus permitted the parts can not become broken by repeated opening andshutting of the collar, since the ends of the straw filling becometapered or wedged in shape and permit a slight movement thereof in theends of the tube without breaking.

I am aware that heretofore attempts have been made to reinforce withmetal the lower loop in a horse collar so as to free the horses throatfrom contact therewith and form a rigid loop of permanent shape. Themetal parts when made too long have become bent when opening the collarand have retained this undesirable form and when made shorter in lengthhave been in the form of exterior plates and hence objectionable inappearance and in lessening the flexibility of the collar or have beenadapted only for twopiece rims riveted to the metal loop and henceliable to become broken and detached. The advantages enumerated providethe long felt necessity of a flexible collar which will not break whenrepeatedly opened and which will protect the throat and prevent theslipping of the hame strap.

of the strap berim. It is not In this device the ends of the strawfilling are pressed into the open ends of the tube and preferably passone another. To facilitate this and also make the joint with theleather-covering smoother the ends of the tube are formed thinner thanthe central portion as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Having described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A horse collar comprising a stufied body portion, a supporting rimtherefor, a leather covering enveloping both body and rim and a formingtube for the lower loop of the rim, and inserted therein, said tubebeing longitudinally separable into two portions, and the divisionalplane therein being substantially vertical, substantially as described.

2. A flattened reinforcing and forming tube for the purpose described,comprising longitudinally separable portions the plane of division beingsubstantially vertical, the combined lower surfaces of the said portionsbeing downwardly and forwardly inclined, and the rear upper surface ofthe inner portion being upwardly and forwardly curved, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

3. A horse collar comprising in combination, a stufied body portion, andstuffed supporting rim therefor, a leather covering over both portions,a seam at the connecting line between said portions, an eXpansibleforming and reinforcing tube in two separable portions inserted in theloop of the rim, said tube being forwardly and downwardly inclined onits lower surface, and upwardly and forwardly inclined above its inneredge, the stuffing in said rim extending between the separable portionsof said reinforcing tube.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand this day of September, 1906.

JOHN F. MOTT.

Witnesses:

WM.'M. IVION'ROE, GEO. S. COLE.

